Texas TV station cuts away from Jimmy Kimmel monologue blasting GOP, NRA
The second half of Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue on Wednesday about the Texas shooting — in which the comedian tore into “cowardly” Republican senators for “listening to the NRA” — wasn’t seen in Dallas after the local affiliate abruptly cut away from the segment.
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” star normally delivers his joke-laden monologue in front of a studio audience, but last night he pre-recorded a nine-minute statement without any spectators present that was focused on gun control.
Kimmel was reacting to Tuesday’s massacre of 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. An 18-year-old, Salvador Ramos, is alleged to have used an assault rifle to mow down classmates and teachers.
A few minutes into the segment, however, the local television station airing the show in Dallas, WFAA-TV, abruptly cut to a commercial.
Kimmel, a supporter of gun control measures, posted a tweet just after midnight on Thursday in which he vowed to “find out” why WFAA-TV stopped airing the final four minutes of his nine-minute monologue on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Pete Freedman, digital director of WFAA-TV, responded to Kimmel on Twitter, insisting there was nothing sinister in the decision to cut away.
“We’d made the decision earlier in the day to extend our 10 o’clock news to include *extra* Uvalde coverage in our broadcast, it had nothing to do with your monologue,” Freedman tweeted in response to Kimmel.
“We’re on the same team.”
Freedman also included a handshake emoji.
Freedman then responded to another Twitter user, saying that the local 10 p.m. newscast ran until 10:40 p.m., which may have explained why the monologue was cut short.
“As the station’s director of digital content, I’ll personally ensure we share your monologue again on our website in the morning,” Freedman tweeted.
Other Twitter users were not convinced by Freedman’s tweets, accusing the television station of censorship.
“You know exactly what you did & it WILL come out,” wrote one angry user.
Another Twitter user commented: “Convenient timing…”
The latest mass shooting has once again ignited debate nationwide over gun control.
In the segment, Kimmel had said that “Most Americans support keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and children, the majority of us do, Democrats and Republicans.”
“And the reason they call them common-sense gun laws, because that’s what they are — common sense,” Kimmel added.